Adapting Your Style

Same Message, Different Audiences

The same information needs different presentation for different people.

A technical update to your engineering team looks different from the same update to the CEO. A message to a new client looks different from one to a long-time partner.

This isn’t being fake. It’s being effective.

The Audience Questions

Before writing, answer:

What do they already know? (Don’t explain what they understand; don’t assume what they don’t)
What do they need from this? (Information? Decision? Action?)
What will they do with it? (Read and file? Act immediately? Share with others?)
What’s our relationship? (New? Established? Formal? Casual?)
How much time do they have? (Scanning? Deep reading?)

Your answers shape everything: length, detail level, tone, structure.

Adjusting Detail Level

Technical audience:

Use jargon they understand
Include the “how” and technical details
Show your work
They want depth

Non-technical audience:

Avoid jargon or explain it
Focus on the “what” and “so what”
Skip the technical details
They want implications

Example: Same update, different audiences

To engineering team: “We upgraded to PostgreSQL 15, which gives us 25% faster queries on the analytics tables and enables the parallel query features we need for the new dashboard. Migration took 4 hours with no data loss.”

To executive team: “We completed a database upgrade that makes our analytics 25% faster. The new dashboard features are now possible. No service interruption.”

Same event. Different framing. Appropriate detail for each.

Adjusting Formality

Formal tone:

Complete sentences
Professional vocabulary
No contractions
More structured

Casual tone:

Sentence fragments okay
Everyday vocabulary
Contractions natural
More conversational

When to be more formal:

First contact with someone
External communications (clients, partners)
Bad news or serious topics
When you’re uncertain about expectations

When to be less formal:

Internal team communication
Established relationships
Quick updates
Celebrating wins

Example:

Formal: “Thank you for your inquiry regarding our services. I would be pleased to schedule a call at your earliest convenience to discuss your requirements in detail.”

Casual: “Thanks for reaching out! Happy to hop on a call whenever works for you. What’s your schedule like this week?”

Both are professional. Different relationship contexts.

AI Style Adaptation

Adjust existing writing:

AI: "Rewrite this for a different audience.

Original (written for [original audience]):
[Your text]

New audience: [Who they are]
What they know: [Their background]
What they need: [From this communication]
Tone: [Formal/casual/technical/simple]

Adapt the content appropriately."

Generate for specific audience:

AI: "Write [type of content] for this audience:

Audience: [Who they are]
Their knowledge level: [Expert/familiar/beginner]
Their concern: [What they care about]
Relationship: [New contact/established/internal]
Desired tone: [Formal/professional/casual]

**Quick check:** Before moving on, can you recall the key concept we just covered? Try to explain it in your own words before continuing.


Content topic: [What you need to communicate]"

The Jargon Decision

Jargon is a shortcut—but only if everyone knows it.

Use jargon when:

Audience definitely knows the terms
The jargon is more precise than alternatives
It saves significant explanation

Avoid jargon when:

Audience might not know it
Plain language works just as well
You’re using it to sound smart, not to communicate

Test: If you’d need to explain the term in a footnote, consider not using it.

Writing for Different Situations

Delivering good news:

Be direct and enthusiastic
Let them enjoy it
Keep it brief unless details matter

Delivering bad news:

Still be direct—don’t bury it
Acknowledge the impact
Include what happens next
Don’t over-apologize

Requesting action:

State what you need clearly
Explain why it matters (briefly)
Make it easy to say yes
Include deadline if relevant

Following up:

Reference the original context
Make your ask clear again
Be brief—they remember

Tone Calibration

Questions to gauge tone:

Would I be comfortable saying this face-to-face?
Could this be misread as rude or cold?
Does it match how we normally communicate?
Would my intended tone come through in a voicemail?

When in doubt: Slightly warmer is usually safer than slightly colder. “Thanks for this!” reads better than just “Thanks.”

Creating Audience Personas

For audiences you write to often:

AI: "Help me create an audience persona for [audience].

These are [their role/relationship to me].
What I typically write to them: [Types of content]
Their priorities: [What they care about]
Their constraints: [Time, knowledge, interests]

Create a brief persona I can reference when writing for them.
Include guidance on: tone, detail level, structure, what to emphasize."

Use this persona as a prompt prefix when writing for that audience.

Exercise: Adapt One Message

Take something you’ve already written.

Identify the original audience
Identify a different audience who might need similar information
List: what would change for audience 2?
Rewrite for the new audience

Notice how the core message stays the same while the presentation changes.

Key Takeaways

Same information needs different presentation for different people
Answer: What do they know? What do they need? What will they do?
Adjust detail level: technical audiences want depth, executives want implications
Adjust formality: match the relationship and context
Jargon works only when audience definitely knows it
AI can help adapt content for different audiences
Create personas for audiences you write to often

Next: Writing that persuades and moves people to action.

Up next: In the next lesson, we’ll dive into Persuasive Writing.